First, some perspective, I have a theory: Holidays, like other human inventions, are born of necessity. This Labor Day so feels like a Sunday for good reason. It was a tough week on the business front... it's the end of the Summer... there was a full moon AND a total lunar eclipse no less. C'mon! Too, much. I so need this time off to recoup.

Here, allow me to unburden myself. I know I risk conveying a constellation of bad karma but I do promise to be extra careful. That said, let me tell you why this holiday comes at a good time. Last week was a total cluster fuck (excuse me). I mean, it was an unconscionable and deadly cloud of toxic radiation, killer bees and crushing disappointments. Arrrgh. Seriously, God really outdid herself. Anyone even passively familiar with the Bible knows of her penchant for obstacles, resistance and spontaneous open-sore bleeding.

Okay, after the site had crashed no less than four times, we learned that we'd been variously attacked. First, by some prolific but smarmy Russian comment spammer and then by some knucklehead hacker actually trying to futz the database. Then, dear Brian (God love 'em) decided to update the Serendipity blog script. A five-minute task regrettably turned into a seven-hour trial of skittish access and broken links. Then, when it rains it pours, of course, Technorati decides to burp. They're out of sync (again). Excuse me but fucking with the index, fucks with viewership which impacts our numbers and to Hell we spiral in the "let's redefine friend" Scoble world of PR as "PageRank."

That, of course, says nothing of the myriad of shit that's been frustrating our growth. Our production house for Strumpette Couture after 5 months emailed us last week to tell us that they could not live up to our quality standards. And our plans for video were somewhat chilled after a series of bloody wrestling matches with Adobe and Sony. (Sidebar: Those battles continue.)

And the topper? This was a particularly intense week for annoyance on the personal front. Apparently -- better said preliminarily as it is not confirmed -- I've been diagnosed with Asperger. That certainly explains a lot. A creative addition to Bipolar if I must say so myself.

Anyway, all to say, God is being incessantly annoying and especially petty. I've been dancing with swarms of bees while slowly pecked to death by rabid ducks. Everything is broken. Everything's an obstacle. I spend my time bathed in tedium waiting for the next sure disappointment. Bottom line: I'm totally exhausted fighting it.

As such, I'm spending the day at the pool.

Happy holiday.

Love,

- Amanda

PS In the spirit of always end on a positve note... As of this writing, I understand the site is now streamlined and secure. The server's kernel has been updated. Comments have been shut off. And hey, if it all works out, we've got a great new HD camera and we're all set to start doing some video. And lastly, thanks to our contributors, we've got several great articles on tap. A few things to live for.

So stay tuned. Thanks for your patience and continued support. See you here bright and early tomorrow.

We are absolutely ecstatic to announce that one of our original cast members, Norah, is very very VERY pregnant.

Actually, she's due in less than a month. I can't believe it. Funny, as in awesomely odd, after all the noise and nonsense we cover here, through all the past tense and pretense... real life just goes about its merry business.

It all surely gives one pause. Stops you in your tracks; doesn't it? Such a powerful metaphor. Ya know, historically speaking, only recently the word has taken on a literal definition. Although today dictionaries give the biological sense first, the word meant "full of significance" well before it meant "with child."

So in proper deference, consider this a "pregnant pause." Take a moment. It's all right here on today's front page. You've got life and death, boundaries and limitations, evolution and articulation, hope and desperation... the entire drama we in PR vainly profess to script.

Current Lawsuit Clock

On Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 7:41 AM, Ronn Torossian, President and CEO of 5WPR, emphatically promised that he was going to sue us. No real reason, he was just irritated by our teasing him about getting in bed with pornographer Joe Francis. Anyway, Ronn gave his obscenity-laced word that we'd see the complaint in 72 hours. It's now late by

Kathleen Durazo about A Measly $2.8 Million Goes Missing, Lawsuit ResultsFri, Jul 31, 10:58:34 AMRay Durazo (the founder) sold the company to Dan in 1999. He was not involved in any of this. He (and I) found out about the lawsuit in the LA Times. In addition to embezzling this m [...]